1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to communication systems, and, more particularly, to providing alerts in communication systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
A ubiquitous Internet, pervasive wireless coverage, and the inexorable decline in the cost (and increase in the capabilities) of communication devices has led to an explosion in the volume of messages exchanged between people and organizations. Although this has generally been a boon to society, there are a number of well-known drawbacks to completely free and open communication. One is the sheer volume of messages that an individual may send and receive in the course of the day. Another is the number of unsolicited (and usually unwanted) messages that can be received, e.g., as spam from legitimate and illegitimate sources.
One example of a valuable service is an alert service. Users can subscribe or register to alert services so that they receive alerts on their cell phones, smart phones, laptops, home computers, and the like. The alerts can be used to notify the users of weather conditions, traffic conditions, scheduling changes, or practically any other event. However, users may not appreciate receiving a large number of alerts, particularly if they are associated with events that do not concern or interest the user. The number of alerts may also be multiplied if copies are sent to different addresses, identifiers, or numbers associated with the same user, such as e-mail addresses, instant messaging handles, and phone numbers. Users may also be reluctant to provide contact information to third-party service providers out of fear that this information will be used to target the user for spam or sold to other providers.
Third-party service providers may also have difficulty directing alerts to the appropriate subscribers. For example, parents of the students at a particular high school may want to receive alerts associated with high school events. However, not all parents may want to receive all of the alerts for all of the events at the high school. Parents of athletes may want to be informed of scheduling changes related to their children's teams, but may not want to receive alerts associated with other teams or other extracurricular activities. However, parents of all the students may want to be informed of school closures. Third-party service providers may also want to provide assurances that the subscribers to their services will not become the targets of unwanted spam.